I finally gave up handwritten daily logs after 12 years in the field

I used to write every site note, material count, and weather report in a spiral notebook, swore by the feel of pen on paper. Last summer I started using a $30 tablet with a free construction log app on a job in Austin and my foreman actually stopped asking me to re-read my handwriting. Do you folks think going fully digital changes how you notice problems on site or just feeds data faster?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_christopher12d ago

Man I feel this so hard, my handwriting looks like a doctor's prescription pad after a long day. Switched to a basic note app on my phone last year and suddenly my crew could actually tell the difference between "rebar needed" and "repair needed" which was a game changer. Honestly I think going digital makes me notice stuff differently because I'm not scrambling to scribble every little thing down, I can actually look up and see what's happening. But I still keep a paper notebook in my truck for sketches, old habits die hard I guess.

emery_black12d ago

Oh come on, is handwriting really that big of a deal? I still write everything by hand and my guys figure out what I mean eventually. That whole "rebar vs repair" thing seems more like a you problem than a pen vs screen problem. Like if you're scribbling so fast that nobody can read it, maybe slow down instead of buying a tablet. And yeah okay digital helps you look up more, but how much of that is just staring at a screen instead of actually seeing the site with your own eyes? I dunno, feels like people act like switching apps is some huge life change when really it's just a different way to write stuff down.

hart.sage12d ago

Funny you say that, I read somewhere that field notes are actually making a comeback with younger guys on sites now.